(The opinions expressed in this article represent the views of PolishedPrices, an independent news and price list provider to the diamond industry and should not be seen as reflecting the Views of Reuters)



The main PolishedPrices index opened up 2.5% from the previous week on Monday at 163.1 points.



The overall index is currently 29.4% above its level of this time last year, and has gained 24.1% since the start of the year.



The major movement came in the 0.5 carat Mixed range, which added 10.7% over the week.



Otherwise, there were modest gains across most other benchmark categories, with only Fine and Mixed 0.3 showing small losses.